Eighteen months after the state capture inquiry led explosive evidence about the alleged corruption of a number of senior ANC leaders and government officials by facilities management company Bosasa, some of those implicated — including current and former ministers Gwede Mantashe and Nomvula Mokonyane respectively — will this week give sworn evidence about the damaging claims made against them.
Numerous other senior ANC politicians and high-ranking officials, including former SAA chair Dudu Myeni and ANC MP and National Assembly chair of chairs Cedric Frolick, had previously written to the inquiry, chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, to strongly refute the testimony given against them by former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi.
Mantashe is understood to be the only senior ANC official who has applied to cross-examine Agrizzi, who served as the right- hand man to late Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson from 1999 to 2016. That cross-examination is expected to take place later next week.
As yet, no date has been set for Ramaphosa to give evidence at the state capture inquiry.
Early in 2019, Agrizzi testified about how Bosasa scored billions of rand in government tenders, while allegedly paying R4m-R6m a month in bribes and giving lavish gifts to senior governing party and government officials. The gifts included a multimillion-rand birthday party for then president Jacob Zuma.
Agrizzi was later charged with corruption alongside former correctional services CFO Patrick Gillingham, former correctional services commissioner Linda Mti, and former Bosasa executive Andries van Tonder, in connection with tenders worth R1.6bn that were awarded by the correctional service department to Bosasa.
Mti is one of the former officials expected to take the stand at the Zondo inquiry in the coming week.
But with Hermione Cronjé, head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) investigative directorate, telling parliament’s portfolio committee on justice & correctional services in May that a “number of prosecutions” related to Bosasa were ready to be instituted, it is unclear whether other officials implicated in serious corruption will now be as enthusiastic about giving evidence to the Zondo inquiry,
This is particularly given that Cronje specifically connected the imminent prosecutions to evidence led at the Zondo inquiry.
While needing to ensure that it seeks the responses of those officials or politicians implicated in the Bosasa testimony, including former president Zuma, the Zondo inquiry will now also need to navigate the legal minefield linked to these potential criminal cases.
The testimony of implicated witnesses cannot be used as evidence against them in a criminal trial, but such testimony can provide investigators and prosecutors with valuable insight into what potential defences may be raised by those witnesses.
As yet, none of the officials implicated by the Bosasa evidence has actually given sworn testimony.
Frolick applied for leave to give evidence at the Zondo inquiry in 2019 after allegations contained in Agrizzi’s evidence that a bag of money from Bosasa was slid into his pocket; that Watson gave an instruction that Frolick should receive a monthly payment of R40,000; and that Frolick had visited the controversial company’s office park.
Frolick has denied all these claims.
But earlier in July, Zondo announced that his evidence had been indefinitely postponed because he was “apparently unwell”.
Mokonyane has previously slammed Agrizzi’s testimony that she received food and expensive alcohol from Bosasa as part of its alleged corruption as “preposterous and lacking in factual accuracy”. She also allegedly received free security installations and upkeep of her house at Bosasa’s expense — a claim that has seemingly been partially backed up by the testimony of Bosasa-linked contractor Charl le Roux.
Mantashe has also applied to cross-examine Bosasa’s former head of special operations, Richard le Roux, about his testimony that the company installed security equipment worth R300,000 at three of his properties. He has publicly disputed that this was done at his request, or with any corrupt intent.
The Bosasa scandal has also engulfed President Cyril Ramaphosa, after it emerged that his CR17 election campaign had received R500,000 from Watson. Ramaphosa successfully overturned public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s report on that donation, which found not only that he had lied to parliament about the Watson donation, but also demanded that the NPA investigate the CR17 campaign for possible involvement in money laundering.
Mkhwebane has been granted access to appeal that decision in the Constitutional Court.
As yet, no date has been set for Ramaphosa to give evidence at the state capture inquiry.
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